Strangers in the Night
by annyaberry
Summary: Set in TB, with a twist... Eric is human, who knows what everyone else is. ES, rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, so this is my first fanfic. I have been stalking my way through the SVM and TB stories for a while and this story had popped in my head so I decided to grow some and publish it. Its OOC, with some characters changing sex, for plot purposes, and others changing species.**

**Hope you all enjoy it, let me know how it goes!**

**A/N: Its all owned by others.**

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Merlotte's was full to the brim. The humid Louisiana night was creeping in the door, making the bar feel like a steam-room. Terry and Lafayette were pumping out the meals, the tables were packed and the waitresses had begun the time honoured tradition of dodging roaming hands as evening turned into night.

I worked steadily behind the bar, filling jugs and pouring shots. "Eric! My man!" my brother Jason called out as he made his way to the pool table. I waved, knowing that he was trying to butter me up to get some free shots later in the night. Jane Bodehouse was perched on her regular stood at the far end of the bar. "Hey handsome, you feel like getting a lady a drink?" she purred and slurred at me.

"Anything for you Jane," I answered, moving over to the newly installed cocktail slushy machine. _This thing is a lifesaver,_ I thought, pouring Jane her who knows what drink of the day. I plopped the blue concoction in front on her and leaned over the bar to whisper in her ear.

"This one will be on me ok, if you let me call your son to pick you up before it gets anymore rowdy in here tonight. Can't have a lovely lady such as yourself taken advantage of by some hooplehead now can we." I finished in off with a wink, knowing that would seal the deal. She giggled drunkenly, nodded and picked up her cocktail, concentrating intensely so as not to spill any.

I straightened up, stretching my back and shoulders. As much as I enjoyed working the bar at Merlotte's, it was not built for someone of my stature. At 6ft 4, I spent half my time bent over, ducking my head to hear customers or to grab glasses from the fridge. I looked around the bar, seeing the usual faces. My brother Jason was now set up in a booth with half the road crew, trying to catch the attention of his latest flame Dawn. She was run off her feet, as were the other waitresses Tara and Arlene. I could here Lafayette hollering from the pass window in the kitchen. I smiled, listening to the girls backchatting my best friend.

Sam chose that moment to wander out of her office into the bar. I liked Sam, she was the sort of dependable, even tempered woman anyone would be lucky to call their boss. Something about her always reminded me of a collie dog, but that was probably more to do with her shaggy brown hair, dark eyes and quite intelligence. And the fact that she had a collie dog for a pet. You know how pet owners often are reflected in their pets.

"How's it travelling out here?" she asked, looking around at the milling people.

"Not too bad, busy on and off," I answered while filling up a jug for Tara as she finished writing up an order.

"Are you gonna let the Vik go for a break, or are you just planning on hiding out in your office and avoiding work all night?" Tara piped up, giving Sam a glare.

Sam shot me a look, to which I threw up my hands. "Don't ask me, I didn't say anything."

"Look Tara, I know you think its your job to protect everyone from the big bad boss, but I think this one is big enough and ugly enough to speak up to himself," Sam responded, "That said, I was coming out to give him 10. Run along Eric, go sit on your log."

"Yeah right this ones ugly enough," Tara muttered, walking off to the kitchen to hand in her order.

I smiled at Sam. "Thanks. I'll be back in a bit."

I grabbed a bottle of water and made my way through the crowd. They parted easily for me, almost like no one wanted me to touch them. _No need to bother_, I thought_, what I've got isn't catching_. One thing that set me apart from the the folks I knew, besides that fact that I didn't think that Lafayette was going to hell or that he and Tara were too 'uppity', was the fact that I could feel what they felt.

I was an Empath. I kind of feel like I am in the ocean, being rocked by waves as they come in and out. Except each wave is generated by different people, so there are as many waves are there are people around me. I guess that's why I like working bar. With alcohol being a depressant, the waves are softened, more like swimming in a bay than the surf. When I first started my working life, I thought working in an office would be best, just to avoid all the people. Little did I know that office work would bring out some of the strongest emotions I had felt outside of high school. Anyway, in the end people sensed there was something off about me and over time they tended to avoid me where possible.

Swinging the door open, I strode over to my usual break spot on an old stump overlooking the pond past the car park. There was a slight breeze, making the humid air move and cooling the night. Even at this short distance, the noise and energy from the bar dissipated. I closed my eyes and took a deep, calming breath.

"Good evening."

My eyes snapped open. Standing in front of me was a short, pale, dark-haired man. Well I say short, but just about everyone is short compared to me. He was probably about 5ft 10, with sideburns for days.

"Hi", I said, looking up at him, "How's your night treating you?"

I was trying to keep up the manners my Gran had instilled in me to be a proper gentleman, but it was difficult. I hadn't felt him. I HADN'T FELT HIM. As he stepped closer, I tried for the first time in my life to sense what another person was feeling. Usually, I was so busy not trying to sense their emotions that it threw me for a loop what I was attempting to do know. But as hard as I tried, nothing. I was like there was some kind of fog, like something dark and damp. I could not for the life of me get any sensation from it.

"Better now," he responded, smiling slyly at me.

_Oh no, not again._ For as long as I can remember, the people in Bon Temps though I was, as they put it, one of those deviant fags. This was not helped by the fact that my best friend Lafayette was the most flamboyantly gay man in northern Louisiana. Or that my other closest friend was Tara. Or the fact that I avoided dates like the plague, had a pants man of a brother that I didn't hang around with and, as Lafayette put it, I was too damn sexy for my own damn good. Either way, while I did not give a rat ass what anyone's sexual preference was, I knew mine laid in a different direction than they all thought. So as much as I was curious about the foggy sensation I was feeling, I decided it was best to to appear too interested.

"Oh ok, that's great for you", I said, standing up and brushing the dirt from the stump of my jeans. "Well, I'm due back behind the bar." I started walking back towards the bar through the car park.

"Wait," the stranger called out. I turned around and suddenly found him standing right in front of me and a little too close for comfort. I really hated close talkers.

"Are you sure you want to return to work?" he asked. As he looked me in the eye, I felt the weirdest tugging sensation inside of my heart. I was almost like the fog was trying to work its way into me.

"Ah yep, I do, boss won't be happy if I keep her waiting on a busy night." I backed away from the stranger, turned and strode as quickly as my legs would take me. _Ugh, _I though_, talk about a creep_. Although I was most likely stronger and with a brother like Jason I knew my way around a fight, you never knew what someone may have on them, especially in these parts.

So I quickly hustled my way towards the safety of Merlotte's, leaving the man standing in the middle of the parking lot. As I reached the back entrance, I glanced behind me. He was gone. He didn't have time to walk anywhere that was hidden. Suddenly it clicked. Merlotte's had just had its first vampire.

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**Just reposting this to fix up some first person/third person POV issues!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! Thanks so much for the reviews, favourites and follows :) Ignore the alert for Chapter 1, I was just fixing from POV issues that slipped passed me in my mad rush to post the story. I had been putting it off and just madly decided to do it, so in my excitement a few errors were made. Probably the same in this chapter too if I am being honest :) This is all unbetaed, so if there are any errors, they are all mine because I really suck as editing my own work.**

**Hope you enjoy, things will be moving a bit faster in the next few chapters!**

**#None of them are mine, they are just toys that I am playing with.**

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Vampires had first come out of the coffin just over two years ago. The announcement had been met with its fair share of controversy, but I firmly believed that you were better off knowing what was out there. At least now we knew what went bump in the night. I had figured that Bon Temps was too small a place to interest any vampires, being in the middle of no where Louisiana. I know that if I was immortal, Renard Parish would not be were I would spend eternity.

I didn't see the vampire again until Friday night. Melotte's was packed to the brim again, with the whole town out to gossip about the death of a local girl, Maudette Pickens. She had been found dead in her apartment, apparently strangled in some sort of sex game gone wrong. The police department didn't have a lead as of yet, but they were making 'enquires' into different men in town. Word was there were quite a few. An unnatural death in Bon Temps was one thing, add sex, bondage and multiple suspects and folks seemed near giddy over the scandal.

I was working bar when he walked through the door. I felt the fog as he entered and for the first time noticed the slight glow that he emitted. I quickly turned my attention back to my customer, feeling him look my way. I did not want to go catching his attention again. Unfortunately, I was the only one working bar at the ime and he seemed to be in need of refreshment. Probably best if I served him, rather than waiting for him to find his meal another way.

"True Blood?" I asked, as he leaned against the bar.

"If you would be so kind," he replied with his smooth southern accent, "O if you have any". I wondered if he was from the south or if it was just a way for him to fit into society, like a chameleon changing its colour to suit its environment. Any other accent would stick out like a sore thumb around these parts.

I warmed up the bottle to True Blood and served him as quickly as I could. I turned around and spotted Sam watching me serve the vampire with a strange look on her face. Her eyes flicked up to meet mine, but she quickly turned and walked away back towards her office. _That was odd._ Sam's usually fairly relaxed and I know she supports vampire rights, but I would have sworn she looked almost angry when I was serving the vampire.

The busy bar quickly drove thoughts of vampires and Sam from my mind. Lafayette finished his shift and took up his usual post behind the bar, chatting with me and keeping the hoopleheads at bay. The vampire had moved on after a few hours, but I felt is eyes on me most to the time he was there. I saw him walk out with the Rattrays, who had recently moved to town but had already established a reputation for drugs and other nefarious activities. I had heard about vampire blood being used as a drug. I wasn't at all surprised that they seemed to be the people most interested in the new vampire in town.

Eventually the night quietened off, people either having had enough gossip for the night or enough booze, many with a mix of both. Last drinks were called and Sam re-emerged from her office as the girls finished doing prep for tomorrow and I cleaned down the bar. Lafayette had moved to sit in front of the bar.

"Hey boss lady, you are looking particularly fine this evening," Lafayette battered his brand new eyelashes at Sam, who was pouring herself a beer. "Why doesn't your cute ass ever get out and have some fun huh? Always slaving away here, its not good for the soul."

"What do you want Lafayette?" Sam replied wearily.

"Well, the Viking and I are planning to head into Shreveport Monday night to hit the town. You know you wanna join in on our raiding and pillaging," Lafayette said with a wink in my direction.

I sighed. Lafayette had recently taken to trying to set me up with Sam. Its not that I didn't find her attractive, don't get me wrong, she can fill out a pair of jeans in the finest possible way. But I just didn't fell _that_ way about her, for all Lafayette's very unsubtle suggestions.

"I think that my raiding and pillaging days are behind me," Sam replied. "Besides, Monday is a full moon, who knows what kind of crazies might be out on the town."

I was kind of relieved. It was bad enough that Lafayette was dragging me out, let alone having to deal with him trying to push Sam and I together. To be honest, I think Sam's tastes may lay elsewhere, if the looks I had seen her giving Tara lately where anything to go by.

"Well, it looks like it is just you and me, lover boy," Lafayette said as he sashayed towards the door. He called out his good-byes to the girls, somehow managed to get into an argument with Tara then was out the door.

Sam turned to me as I crouched down, restocking the fridge. "So, there's a vampire in town."

"Yeah," I replied looking up at her. "Seems a bit strange, but I guess being immortal would do that."

"Humph," Sam said, sitting on Lafayette's stool and sipping her beer. "Make sure you watch yourself with them, don't think you can trust one."

I looked up in surprise. Sam looked down at me, again with anger in her eyes.

"I thought you supported vampire right," I said, trying to understand her sudden shift in attitude.

"Oh I do, just because they are different doesn't mean they should to treated differently when it comes to government and legal issues. I just think that you should remember that they are vampires," she replied. She looked me right in the eye. "You should also remember that you are who you are and that their kind may not take too kindly to your... differences."

I stood up straight. Not many people knew about my empathy, mostly just my Gran and Jason, Lafayette, Tara and Sam. Others knew that there was something off about me, but didn't really know what it was. Most assumed I was psychic. Gran and Jason knew because growing up I would know things that I shouldn't. This was particularly the case when someone was lying, which people do way to often to children. Lying was also one of the quickest emotion for me to pick up, after hate and love. I think that's the main reason Lafayette and Tara are my closest friends. For all their issues, they are unfailingly honest, almost to a fault. When they feel something, they feel it so honestly and completely that I am always in awe of their strength. Both of them have been through hell and back growing up, yet have managed to remain true to themselves. Sam knew because, well I'm not really sure. She seemed to know something was up but never judged me for it, so telling her one night after a few too many staff drinks just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

"I don't know what who I am has to do with anything," I answered, looking down at her now. " I do know that I don't trust the vampire that has just arrived, but I am not going to paint a brush over all his kind just because he is a creep. And Sam, I am a little surprised that you would."

"Ok look, I am just watching out for you Eric," Sam said, moving off the stool to stand in front of me. " Just be careful that's all. There is more danger out there than you know and I don't want my only Viking barman getting caught up in it. Who the hell is going to get the boxes out of the top of the store cupboard if you get hurt?"

"Yeah yeah," I replied, reaching around to give her a hug. "You really are just a big softy Sam Merlotte."

"Shut up.. and don't tell anyone."


	3. Chapter 3

**Peeks in... Anyone here? I know it has been a long time between updates and *yay!* here one is. My only excuse is that I am incredibly lazy. Not sure if it is an excuse as much as a fact...**

**Anyway, thanks for the reviews, favourites and follows. I get all giddy when I see something come through. I apologise if I have not replied to anyone, my adherence to proper etiquette needs some work. See above for excuse. **

**xxx**

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I made my way home after my chat with Sam, not wanting to hang around too long as I knew Gran would be sitting up waiting for me. No matter how many times I told her she needn't sit up to make sure I got home, she was always there, reading her romance novel and sipping at her tea.

I walked through the back door of the old farmhouse after parking around the back. Sure enough, even though it was going on 1 am, there was Gran, perched at the kitchen table with one of the latest vampire romance novels in her hands. They were all the rage after the real thing had come out of the coffin.

"Hey Gran, how was your night," I asked, leaning down to kiss her on the top of the head.

"Fine, fine, sweetheart, how was the bar," she asked, looking up at me with her bright blue eyes, still full of life even now that she was approaching 80.

"Busy, Jason seems still pretty stuck on Dawn, which I guess is a good thing. Mostly though, people were just in to gossip about Maudette."

"Humph." Gran stood up, grumbling about gossips, vultures and respecting the dead. She always hated the way apparently god-fearing people were happy revel in the sordid details of others lives. I was grateful that I had had Gran to raise Jason and I after our parents had died in a flash flood when we were only 8 and 9. While I was the younger brother, Jas had struggled most with the loss of our parents, in particular Dad. But Gran had stepped into the role of both parents, particularly when Gramps had disappeared only a year after Mom and Dad died. She had installed in both of us the same mix of manners, morals and moxy that she had. Jas just happened to miss out a bit on the maturity.

"Now you head up to bed young man, Sam is keeping you at the bar far to late these days."

I raised an eyebrow, which earned me a whack on the arm. "Don't you give me any cheek, you know I have trouble sleeping at my age. I'm up and down, not sitting here all night waiting for you to return."

I simply nodded, kissed her again and headed up to bed. I jumped through the shower, into a pair of boxers and headed to my room, listening to the sound of BBC World Service making its way from under Gran's door. For all she says about not waiting up for me, without fail five minutes after I get back, she's upstairs, with the radio murmuring in the background, out like a light. I'm not sure what it is about the BBC, but listening to it is better than the best drugs for putting Gran to sleep. She had to stop listening to it as she drove the older she got, as it was making her sleepy on the road.

I often thought about moving out and setting up on my own, but selfishly I stayed here at the farmhouse. Gran was always on my back about moving out, saying that it would be good for me to meet new people, but I was happy here. I loved Gran and it never felt like I was an adult still living at home. I was just an adult living where I loved.

As I set myself up for bed, I moved over to the window and opened it up. The sounds of the woods surrounding the house made its way in, as well as a soft cooling breeze. As I fiddled with the blinds, I looked out towards the cemetery across our yard. I squinted, as something caught my eye. I thought that I could see movement among the gravestones.

There! Something white flittered over by the older section of the grounds.

I squinted, trying to make out what was going on. Suddenly, I heard a shriek and could make out some kind of struggle.

I ran down stairs, grabbing a shirt on my way out of my room. I snatched up the shot gun that Gran kept near the front door, loaded it and made my way outside.

I made my way across the yard, leapt the fence separating us from the cemetery and ran towards the older gravestones. There was rustling and grunting coming from ahead of me and I slowed down, creeping towards the noise.

I crouched down behind a monument, trying to hide myself as much as possible. I peaked over the top and through the stones saw Vampire Bill, laying down with Denise Rattray standing above him, talking in a low voice. Bill looked extremely uncomfortable and I could see a silver chain glinting coldly in the moonlight. He also had an IV sticking in his arm, with a bag attached that was slowly filling with his blood. I had read that silver was incapacitating to vampires, which seemed to be what was happening in front of me.

I turned and sat behind the gravestone, trying to think through what was happening. Clearly, Denise had chained Bill up and was draining him for the V that ran in his veins. Whether she was capable of doing that alone was another thing. That meant that Mack Rattray was probably around here somewhere. Sure enough, I soon heard footsteps moving across the graveyard and saw Mack's bald head moving between the monuments. Some stroke of luck meant that he didn't see me huddled down as he made his way to Denise.

"Well fucker, were almost done here. How abouts we leave you here to get a nice suntan after you finish with your donation," Mack said as Denise guffawed next to him.

_Ok then_, I thought to myself, _I can't let him die, no matter how much of creep he his. I'm going to have to do something here. But what?_

Deciding that action was the best policy, I stood and fired a warning shot in the air. Quickly pointing the gun at the Rattray's, I started striding towards them.

"How about you two step away from the vampire," I said.

"What the fuck!" Mack hollered, as he turned and looked in my direction. "What the fuck do you want, freak?"

"I want you to step away from the vampire, you thick headed Neanderthal. Or didn't you hear me properly the first time."

"What the fuck do you think you are doing," Denise screeched at me, "Don't you know who you're messing with?"

"Yep, I sure do. I also know that vampires don't tend to look too kindly on drainers, so you to better hurry along now before I let some friends of mine know about what I have stumbled across this fine evening."

"You don't know any vampires, you big fuckin' Lurch," Mack said, backing away from the injured vampire nonetheless.

"Really, do you think a freak like me doesn't know any vamps? Do you wanna test that Mack? Because it will be the end of you if you do." I cocked my gun, raised an eyebrow and hoped like hell that I looked intimidating.

"All right, all right, we are backing off. You can have the vamp. Like I give a fuck anyway. This shits getting too hard to move as it is," Mack said, grabbing Denise by the arm and moving away from me.

I watched them as they disappeared into the trees, waited until I heard a car start across the cemetery, then looked over at the vampire I had just rescued.

"Do you need a hand getting that silver off?" I asked, moving towards Bill.

"If you wouldn't mind. It is a tad uncomfortable," he said, watching me intently as I bent down and removed the thin chain. "Thank you very much for your kindness tonight. I was not expecting the events to work out as they have, but you might call it fortuitous. I am grateful that you are here."

I felt like he was evaluating me. I stood quickly, keeping the silver chain and wrapping it around my fist. Even if I didn't want him dead, it sure didn't mean that I trusted him. I wasn't sure how much the silver would help if he decided to attack me, but I figured I was safer with it as backup. The shotgun sure as hell wasn't going to do anything for me now.

"Sure, no problem. I heard a noise and just wanted to make sure no one was hurt." Now that the adrenaline was starting to recede, all that I wanted to do was go inside and got back to bed. I was shaking slightly, but I figured that's what you get when you confront drug dealers draining a vampire in the cemetery outside your house at 1 in the morning. Dear god, I sound like I'm living in a bad scary movie. Wait, does this make me the blond who gets killed for investigating a scary noise. Yep. Definitely time to go inside.

"So, do you need a hand or anything? Where do you sleep for the day?"

"I am currently residing at my ancestral home, the Compton house. After my last living heir died, I was able to take over ownership again and am now planning to return it to its former glory."

"Oh, ok then. Well, do you need a hand getting back there or anything?"

"I would be most grateful for some assistance in standing, but I should be capable of making my own way to my residence."

_Man, does he always talk this way? How the hell did he manage to hide his age before the Great Revelation?_ I think while all I say is, "Sure, no problem." I move over to give Bill a hand standing, keeping my sliver wrapped fist at the ready. Not to equate vampires with animals, but I am fairly sure that an injured vampire would be just as dangerous as an injured animal. Either way, no harm in a little protection.

"What were you doing out this side of the cemetery?" The Compton place is on the opposite edge, so he is well out of his way over here.

"I came to give my regards to my late wife Sarah and our children," he says, pointing to a grouping of overgrown headstones. I see the letter 'pton' on one and realise that this must have been the graves of his human family.

"Oh, well I guess I will leave you to say what ever you wished to in private." I begin moving away, not turning my back to Bill, but moving towards the safety of the farm house. Bill was still standing, looking down at the jumbled headstones.

"My wife Sarah was just a gentle spirit. She was always so understanding of my... differences."

I stop moving, trying to work out what the hell he is on about now.

"You see, I found difficultly adjusting to the needs of matrimony. But she always was so helpful and I was eventually able to fulfill the duties of a husband and give her the children she so desired."

_Why the hell is he telling me about him being impotent? Eww._

"You see, it was not like today, where people are are to be free with who they are and who they are attracted too. I was not able to be myself and follow my own desires until well after my human life was taken from me."

_Oh... _

"It must be so freeing for you to be able to be who you really are inside Eric. You are very lucky to have been born into the time you were."

_Oh no... Time to go. _I was not in the mood to explain that while yes, I did not date any local girls, I hung around Lafayette, I still lived with my Gran and did not run around with my brother, the perpetual 'Stud of the Year: Renard Parish', I was not gay. I have pretty much given up on that, figuring that it was better if the town just left me be as the freak I know I am. Whatever the reason behind it, it was better to be cut off and ignored by them than have to deal with their prejudice. Have to be honest though, never thought that it would result in a vampire attempting to hit on me.

"Yeah, freedom sure is great. Well, I'm heading in, if you don't need anymore help." Argh, damn Gran's insistence on proper manners, where the hell did that last bit come from. All I want is to get the heck out of here.

"I shall be perfectly fine. You may return to your residence. I just wish to say farewell to my human family. Thank you again for your assistance tonight, I shall endeavour to repay it one day soon." Bill turns towards me and half bows. God he is an odd one.

"Ok then, well night," I say moving away again, still keeping half an eye on the vampire. However he remains where he is, standing in front of his family's tumbled gravestones. As much as he seems a few sandwiches short of a picnic, it does make you feel for him. All those he knew are dead, even his human family line as died out with Jesse Compton's death last year. He really is all alone.

I eventually reach the property line and step over the chain link fence. I cross the yard, enter the house, put away the shotgun and my shiny new silver chain and make my way back up to bed. My last thought before going to sleep is how lucky vampire Bill was that he was attacked so soon after I got home and before I went to sleep. I can't imagine the pain of being left in the sun like the Rattray's planned to do with him. How horrible for him. Poor guy.


End file.
